Ah! So where do I begin? I know its been 4 months without an update from me...but I want you all to know....that´s a good thing! I love my life here, and I am extremely busy!

Let me start from the beginning....I work two jobs each day--in the mornings I work Chicos de la Calle...it is a shelter that serves as a trade school for boys ages 11 to 18 who have lived, or are at risk of living and working on the streets. A lot of these boys come from extreme situations, and have had a lot of intense experiences in their short lives---abuse, neglect, etc. I serve as a mentor in the ¨taller¨which is the workshops where the boys are learning skills for carpentry and mechanics...and twice a week for 80 minutes I teach english to a seventh grade level class---where I have boys all between the ages of 13 and 18. I find SO much life from this work experience. I have been here for two months and the relationships I have built have been so special---there is a real beauty behind shared experiences, and the boys and I have had the opportunity to mess around, become friends, and begin to tell about our lives. With that said, this is an emotionally intense experience---but I leave each day so thankful for being placed at this work site. It has completely reiterated my passion to work with ¨at risk youth´¨ and I wake up each morning ready to go--with a genuine feeling of joy..something I hope to continue to have in my life. With that said, don´t get confused...there are days when I am near tears!! The boys are rough---they have so many layers and so many problems...their way to gain attention at times can be frustrating...they act out and can be disrespectful....but this is where my patience has been key. I constantly remind myself that behaviors stem from somewhere--and I need to listen to these behaviors and find a solution ( this is a big task that I am willing to take on). I find that most of my problems are during my english class--and this is because it is a transition for all of us--I spend a majority of my time in the workshop talking with the boys and building these friendships, and then I take on a completely different role as their teacher---the relationship can be easily confused by both them and myself. We are all slowly but surely learning to differentiate these roles and gain mutual understanding...but there are days when I leave the classroom truly questioning what I am doing there--and if I am even making a difference. Usually, on those days, my impact is reinforced by one of my most well behaved and respectful students---Danny Lopez---he is a brilliant 14 year old boy with the biggest heart....I am so thankful for him. Chicos is one place that has showed me the true power of love---so many of these boys do not fully understand the concept of being cared about---and they dont always see their own worht--but I have found that just my presence of caring and love is what they need. I cannot change their circumstances...I cannot change their past experiences...but I can show them that they are powerful, full of worth, and that people love them. I hope in doing so I can help to motivate them to choose a new path to take and positively move foward in their lives. I love them.

My second job is in an invasion communtiy, Veintiocho de Agosot---a n invasion, or growing community, that is on top of an old landfill...there is trash everywhere, and animals that feed on it---to keep the trash to minimum, the peopel there are constantly burning trash...which you can imagine bring about incredible health issues. In Veintiocho, I work with two other volunteers, Brendan and Tierny, and we run an after school program called Manos Abiertas (Open Hands). The after school program serves as a safe educational space for the kids in the community ages 4 to 15. Each day we have anywhere from 30 to 40 kids---we run a homework room, and then two separate activities, one for the older kids and one for the little kids. Education in Ecuador is more or less complete memorization---the kids here have little to no critical thinking skills...each week we work to plan education activities with math, english, geography, science etc . while trying to stimulate this crtitcal thinking skills----which can be extremely tough and frustrating. But enough about all that---let me tell you about THE KIDS. The kids at the program are so full of love and energy--they are completely needy---but wonderful. Due to the health issues in the area, most of the kids are malnourished, and they look 3 or 4 years younger than they actually are..for many of them..the bread, bannanas, and vitamins that we give out may be a substantial part of their meals each day-----along with that, their situation is so desperate, and it shows in their behavior. Sharing is rarely an option. Fighting is always the solution. Everything is territorial. This makes our job so much harder---but it is always the reason why our presence there is important...and the smiles that greet us as we walk up to the school...and the general excitment we are recieved with my the kids and their families is so moving....so welcoming....it makes this incredibly hard two hours of my day worth while. I had 2 weeks where I felt like working at Manos Abiertas was a mistake.... the kids were crazy and didn´t seem to liek us...nothing ran smoothly and the three of us left each day discouraged....but as time passed, and we all got through the transitional period, things got 100 times better ( that does not mean that there are no challenege s, because there are each day) Its amazing how much joy I get from little kids---they have such a genuine innocense...and especially here in Ecuador, such simple things bring them such great joy--it is so heartwarming. Their faces are already embedded on my heart.

I love each day here for its incredible beauty, heartbreaks, challenges and joys. I am know this is where I am supposed to be--which pushes me through even the hardest of days.